


Light, Camera, Action!

by kitizl



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU, Film, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:40:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitizl/pseuds/kitizl
Summary: "There were several rumours that were merely speculations that discussed the life of the washed out yet critically acclaimed film director, Lawliet – more commonly known by his stage name L. A perfectionist sociopath wasn't one of them."An AU that chronicles the story where Light Yagami is an aspiring screenwriter makes a movie with L, a critically acclaimed director, and how everything goes wrong in every single manner imaginable.





	1. In Motion

**Author's Note:**

> In this Oscar madness (written about 5 hours before the Oscars 2016), it seemed okay for me to write this AU.

"I understand your pressing circumstances, but I'm telling you, he doesn't usually go for screenplays like this! He wants, realism, blood – I mean, we're talking about a guy who grew up on Tarantino and Fincher movies for chrissake."

The man looked exasperated. He was desperate. His client was trying to kill himself, but not on his watch.

32 year old Light Yagami sat in front of his agent's desks. "Look, it's exactly like you said! I grew up on Fincher's movies too! And look, this story – it's like a retelling of _Gone Girl._ "

"It isn't."

"Shut up. The point is, he's an Oscar nominee for over a billion movies."

"Fifteen."

"Shut up. And if he takes my story, and makes it into a movie…" he slams his hand on the desk, "I'm telling you, I'm looking at an Oscar for best original screenplay."

His agent sat there on his revolving chair, playing with the marble paperweight between his fingers on the glass table. He let out a sigh, and stood up adjusting his coat, "Fine. I'll talk to his agent. See what I can do."

Light clapped his hands and jumped, "Thank you!" He considered for a minute whether he should kiss his agent on the cheek, but decided it would be too homosexual for the moment.

* * *

Fifteen days later, Light received a text from his agent, giving _him_ the directions to the current location of the one he wants. It was the address of an old abandoned film studio. He grabbed his coat, his brief case, and for safety purposes, his laptop as well.

In about half an hour, he was about to reach the place. The gates were functional, but the building _was_ abandoned.

"Dank abandoned buildings," Light smiled to himself. "Just like a David Fincher movie."

He knocked and opened the unlocked door, and found himself in the set of a meth lab. He made his way past – and this set was _old_ – and found himself in an aircraft museum set. Without the aircrafts.

But instead of aircrafts, there was one, lonely little caravan that sat right smack in the middle of the 10000 square feet room. He realized that this must be it. HE briskly walked towards it, knocking on the door to hear the words, "Come in" emanate from the inside.

Only, the voice didn't say "Come in" it said, "Who is it?"

Light cleared his throat, "Light, Light Yagami. I'm a screenwriter?"

"Ah, yes, the dipshit. Come in, come in."

And Light opened the doors of his caravan to find…

There were several rumours that were merely speculations that discussed the life of Lawliet – more commonly known by his stage name _L_ \- but they sure as hell didn't discuss the possibility of him being a reclusive, drug abusing, porn watching, diabetic (maybe even arthritis) guy with absolutely no sense of hygiene, fashion, or sociability.

Because that was the first sight Light saw. An English man sitting on a couch with black hair, pale face, and onyx grey eyes, wearing a white t shirt and green pants. The TV was running and it had porn running on it. Next to the couch was a minibar, only it had a lot of cakes, jellies and jams.

"Yagami. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah" L waved his fork at him, his eyes undeviating from the carnal pleasures on TV. "Sit wherever you want," he added.

Light looked around him. The place literally had a million health code violations. Anywhere he sat could ruin his suit permanently. "That's all right, I'd rather stand," Light said. Politeness always got the better of him.

"Whatcha want?" L smirked, switching the TV off. "My name is Light Yagami, and I have a script that I think you might be interested in."

"Why did you come to me?" L inquired, his eyes piercing Light's.

"Because…" Light gulped. "Because you're an amazing director. I've seen most of your movies. You have a varied, never permanent, always changing cast, and your signature camera moves are mind blowing. Your panache for the psychological thrillers is out of the world…" and Light slowed as he noticed L giggling, almost mockingly.

"Okay, and what makes you think I'd direct your story?" L chuckled.

"Because I have written a psychological thriller. In an era where romantic movies are conquering the theaters of the day to day, Japan is losing impact on international cinema. I intend to bring it all back."

"And you approach an English man to do it?"

"Technically, it would be a Japanese production, with a Japanese crew, but an English director."

"Oh, you've determined who my crew should consist of also?" L bit his thumb. "That's not nice."

"I haven't. Not really. It's just a dream I've dreamed for a very long time and-"

"Shush. Look, give me your script, I'll go over it. I'll ask my agent to give you a call if I'm interested. Sound okay?"

Light nodded earnestly and walked out. Seconds before he shut the door, he heard the porn play on the TV again. Seconds after he shut the door, he heard L screaming, "YOU BROKE THE 180 DEGREE RULE YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Light smiled. He was the perfect man for the job.


	2. Intriguing Possibilities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honour of my favourite actor, Leonardo DiCaprio finally winning the Oscar, we have a special chapter here. The longest chapter I've ever written on this website. Yay?
> 
> EDIT : This was of course, in 2016 - I continued to write waaay longer chapters later on in this very story.

Light found himself sitting all alone in his living room. The TV was on, with some crappy rom-com movie that his sister Sayu has often cried at. This must be the seven millionth time they were telecasting it.

"I will change this industry," Light thought. "I will change this industry for the better."

His laptop was open on his thigh, with a screen writing software open. Only, it was blank. He just sat there, waiting for some kind of inspiration to kick in.

His phone rang, and he pounced on it, "Light."

"It's Dad. Get to my office, now."

Light dropped the phone down, and struggled to smile. He put a coat on, and took his purse. It was a long subway journey to the other end of town. He made sure that the house was all locked up and came outside.

It was cold. He was able to see his breath in front of him. He liked it that way.

He got into the subway station, and walked through the turnstile, and found himself a seat on the train. He was all alone in the compartment.

He got another phone call. "Yagami."

"This is Wammy. I'm Mr Lawliet's agent."

Light immediately stood up, "M-Mr Wammy. What is it?"

"L would wish to meet you tomorrow. Is that possible?"

"Definitely!"

"He also told me to bring your list of preferred actors."

"Definitely!" Light sensed that something was odd, but nevertheless was excited.

"And crewmen."

"…"

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still there."

"Be back at the same place you met him today. 10 o clock."

And the beep tone came. The train stopped at his station. Light got down from the train and got back up to the ground. He crossed the street, and there he was – _The Yagami Production House._

His father was a renowned producer for a very long time. His reputation was almost unbeatable until the international market fell into a rut of romantic movies. Only. TYPH almost fell into bankruptcy and they started funding small indie film makers, but that was not enough to make them rise from their low bank account. They had a few minor hits in romance, and they had enough money to still be in business. Light utilized this moment to get his entry into the film industry.

"So," his father smiled, stirring a cup of tea as he looked at his son. "I heard you met L."

"I did, and I'm meeting him again tomorrow." Light said triumphantly.

"Light, Light, young Light. You have so much to learn about this industry. It is not as cute as it looks. It is one of the most horrifying, terrible, depressing industry. L? Do you even know why he always uses new actors for his new movies?"

"Yeah, for diversity."

"Bullshit. It's because of one reason, and one reason alone."

Light leaned in intently. "But, you're going to have to figure that out yourself. I can only tell you so much. Are you going to ask me to produce it?" Souchiro sighed.

"Maybe. If you think you can handle it."

"I definitely can. I'm tired of making romantic movies and indie movies in the name of suspense and thriller. I know about you, son, and I know what you are capable of. I also know that if L manages to actually finish making your movie, we'll be back in business, and you would be propelled into the industry."

Light smiled for a while, but then slowly frowned. "But?"

Souchiro Yagami smiled as he removed his glasses and wiped them with the table cloth. "If and only if he finishes the movie."

* * *

"You actually came. Didn't your father talk to you or something?" L purred, pouring tea into a tea cup - just one. He then looked up and at Light, and said, "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, thank you," Light said. He didn't bother to dress up formal this time. He just wore a blazer and a jean. But he was slightly more than disappointed when he saw L wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday.

L dropped three cubes of sugar into the tea. Exactly the way Light liked it. He found it suspicious. He even found it amusing. But moreover, he noticed his screenplay lying on the bed, and…

…were those red marks all over the page?

Light composed himself. "Did you read my screenplay?"

"I did." L said, licking the tips of his fingers. "But I'm going to ask you again. Why do you want me to direct it?"

Light sighed. His conversation with his father yesterday flashed through his mind in a spilt second. "Because you are amazing."

"Okay," L said, almost as though he was expecting this answer. "So do you have any actors…actresses in mind?"

"Not really. But I do have an idea for an actress. I met her in rehab."

"You met her where?" L said, mixing his own cup of tea.

"Rehab. Not for drugs. But um…" Light looked away. This wasn't a part of his life he was essentially proud of. Especially after since he realized that rehab was almost useless. "…for a different reason."

"I won't pry. What's her name?"

"Amane. Amane Misa."

L stopped pouring the tea out of the kettle. "Amane…Misa… Like the one in the cosmetic ads."

"Yeah, her."

"Do you really think she can do this role, Light?"

"It's possible. She's a great actor."

"She's not a great actor, she has a great ass. Those are two different things."

Light was starting to get restless. "Yes, but she has great acting skills as well. She was _used._ "

L continued pouring out his tea. "Well, tell me something new."

There was a long, lingering pause for a while, the only sound in the entire filthy caravan being the _plop_ sound of the sugar cubes L was dropping into his tea. Light was only keenly observing the ripples that were formed. Only a bit later, he realized that the ripples originated directly from the center of the cup. He looked up at L with shock. L didn't even focus. Yet, with practice, despite the drugs, his hand was steady, dropping sugar one at a time, and…

…was that his fifteenth cube?

"Do you have a producer in mind?" Light said, still enchanted by the ripples.

"No, but I have a man who is ready to be the executive producer."

"Wow. For how long?"

"Ten years."

Light stopped at that. This man was probably way beyond his league.

L smirked, "You want your father to produce it, don't you?

_Plop. Plop plop._

"Well, I don't think I have another option." Light sighed, relaxing slightly on the couch, ignoring the diseases he might get from the fungi ridden backrest. "Besides, it'll be easier to control if I had someone in my own family who produces it, you know."

"No."

"No?"

"It'll be harder."

"Don't be insane L. I mean…"

"Trust me when I say that home productions are usually vanity productions, and when they are not, they are usually earnest ones. Earnest ones that don't work out, ever, because the crew might not agree with the producer's ideologies and there will be one guy – either the hero, or the director, or…" he looked at Light, "the screenwriter who would want to support the producer. The entire team would then face a dilemma. Continue with an altered, abridged version that could as well as be a deformed mongoose, or drop the project all together."

"And you know this…"

"Experience."

Light didn't want to press any further. He knew what was running in his mind.

"Anyway," L started sipping his tea. "I've gone through the script once. We'll meet again on…um…Saturday? We'll start making the shooting script then. What do you say?"

Light smiled, unsurely, "Alright. See you."

"Bye."

Light stood up and opened the door when L called out one last time.

"What is it L?"

"Next time you come for this movie – I don't want your phone here. It was buzzing with notifications every seven seconds, and it is irritating, and distracting. Either switch it off, or leave it at home. I don't like the silent mode. Do you understand?"

Light nodded, and walked out.

The restaurant was perfect. He hadn't seen her in a long time. He knew it would be a nice place to start off again after a log break. Informal, yet excellent food.

Light waited for a long time. She was late. The doorbell rang, and she entered immediately.

Misa Amane. She looked at Light and smiled – there was a certain peace in her smile. She dressed a lot more sensibly than she used to. She wore a simple T Shirt and jeans pants. They weren't torn too. She had a really simple handbag. Light could deduce only one thing.

"Are you here incognito?"

"You bet. How have you been Light? It's been long." She then paused, and with lot of tenderness and pain in her voice, she added, "Is _he_ still here?

Light chuckled silently. "What about you? Is she still there?"

Misa smiled, with some sadness. "She isn't. Not most of the times. Only when I get really, really depressed. Nowadays, that's really rare."

"One day a month?"

"Worse. One day inn three months."

"Wow, that's nice…" Light said, "That's amazing, you've improved so much, that's great-"

Misa immediately held his hands. "Why did you call me, anyway?"

Light leaned back and looked outside the window. It was mildly sunny. "How ready are you about acting?"

Misa looked down immediately, and started fumbling with her fingers. "I'm not sure, Light. It's been what, three years?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you ask?"

"I've written a movie. I've found a director. I just need someone to act."

Misa brightened up. "And I'm the first face that popped up in your head?"

"Misa," Light's voice grew weaker. "You've helped me a lot. I need to do something for you."

"You have honey. You don't have to do anything for me. You have done a lot of things by just…existing like that."

Light smiled, and Misa did too.

"I'll think about it?"

"That'd be nice."

After that, they continued having lunch like any normal two friends. Only both of them knew that despite the fact that they were friends, they were not normal ones. After they finished their meal, Light paid for the check, and they departed in opposite directions.

Light was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The darker days were over. The future was yet to come.

Only much, _much_ later would he realize, that that was not the case.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did say this was an AU. So, the characters would have been tweaked a bit more than slightly. Call me mad for making the most extravagant of characters a lot more sober.


	3. Soft Trees Break The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend to have this chapter written by now, but I've written it anyway. I was bored, I was in a mood, and also a person who I knew (who is also as old as me) died in an accident today. I seem to be at the top of my writing powers whenever I border on insanity. Sue me.

"Come on Onee-chan. It's been a long time, and I've really wanted to watch this with you." Sayu tugged on her brother's hand. She was twenty one, yes, but by force of habit, she always ends up pulling her brother's hand.

Light smiled, unaware of what to do. It's not been a long time since Sayu came out of the hospital, and already, she's begun asking him for movie nights. She came to know only the day before yesterday that her brother was going to be a part of a major project with a director.

"Alright, fine. One movie."

The TV was on, and Sayu was on Light's lap. It was a rom-com, which was one of Light's least favourite genres. But he's forgotten how his sister was, how she felt, and how important it was that she came back home after the trauma. He started playing with her hair as the movie began.

"You forgot popcorn," Light whispered into her ears, gentle smelling her hair at the same time. "I always do," Sayu replied.

Suddenly his phone started buzzing. He pulled it out, and answered the call. "Yagami."

* * *

_A few months ago_

"I could drop you, you know."

"Blah, blah, blah, onee, I'm twenty! I think I can walk?"

Light stood there restlessly. Sayu picked up her handbag, and yelled "Byeee!" as she slammed the door close.

Light spent rest of the evening watching a movie, cringing at every single bad dialogue or every useless shot. It was getting a little too boring for him, so he turned off the TV, and decided to go out for a walk. He consciously left his phone behind – he didn't want to interrupt a peaceful walk with phone calls and what not.

He locked the door, and started walking. There were intermittent cold breezes. The onset of winter. It wasn't frigid, but fresh. It relaxed Light greatly.

After taking a long stroll for about an hour, Light decided to get back to his house, but this time, he only took half an hour in doing so.

By the time he reached the gate, he could hear his phone – albeit very mildly – ringing.

"Has it been ringing for a long time?" he thought, as he unlocked the house and got in. The phone was still ringing.

It was Sayu.

"Sayu, what's wrong?"

She was crying, her gasps breaking in between her tears. "L-L-Light. C-Can you come g-g-get me?"

In fifteen minutes, Light stopped his car, and found Sayu curled under a tree on the pavement. He went over, and bent down, "Sayu?"

Sayu almost exploded, but once she saw her brother, she immediately started crying and put her hands around his neck and hugged him tightly.

* * *

"I'm sorry, who are you?" the doctor approached Light, who was waiting restlessly in the waiting room. Light stood up, "I'm her brother."

"Is you father around?"

"He's overseas for business. Is she alright?"

The doctor nervously pulled out his surgical gloves and disposed them in the nearby dustbin.

"Is she alright? She was bleeding, were you able to stop the bleeding?"

"Mr Yagami, the bleeding was caused by blunt force to her torso. She wasn't just bleeding, but she just underwent a miscarriage."

"I'm sorry, she's pregnant?"

" _Was_ pregnant, I'm afraid. And due to the miscarriage, it had also affected her spleen slightly. It's all patched up now. There were some minor complications during the surgery, so she might have to come back here, in a week or so."

Light sat down in disbelief. He didn't know which hurt more. That his sister was beat up, or that she was pregnant and didn't share it with him.

"I'm sorry for what happened to her."

Light nodded, and buried his face in his hands.

"Do you have any idea what she was hit by?"

"A baseball bat, I think. But anything metal and cylindrical is my guess."

"How sure are you?"

"I interned with a forensic scientist, I'm pretty sure."

"Okay."

Light still wasn't sure. "When can I see her?"

"She's gaining consciousness in a few minutes. She's a bit sedated, you can probably see her in about…" he checked his watch, "…an hour."

The hour was the most excruciating for Light. He was not able to move at all. He sent a text message to his father, but he hasn't replied yet. And if his mom were still alive, he would have asked her to come too.

"You can see her now," the nurse said.

"Onee," Sayu weakly opened her eyes to see her brother's reddened ones.

"What happened?" Light asked, as he held her hands tightly.

* * *

_Present Day_

"Sayu, I have to go out. Do you need anything?"

But she was already asleep.

Light smiled, put on his coat and walked outside.

It was snowing.

He put his hands in the pockets and breathed out, seeing the fog.

_**I wonder who fucked your sister** _

Light stopped as he felt a chill up his spine. "He doesn't exist, he doesn't exist, he doesn't exist."

_**That's very subjective. What is existing? Cuz if you say that you exist, then please, you don't. Hey! Don't fucking ignore me when I'm talking to you.** _

"It's just a piece of my imagination. Just a figment of my imagination. Just a-"

_**Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. But what do you** _ **believe** _**?** _

"SHUT UP!" he yelled much to the surprise of the other people on the street.

He opened his eyes to find a man, wearing a torn black suit, with a dirty white shirt, black glasses, messy hair, a heart shaped earring, blue hair, leaning on a lamp post.

Light looked at him with the end of his eyes, but just continued to walk on.

_**How's that babe doing now? Misa or some shit right.** _

"She's not shit," Light thought.

The man with the torn suit started following and laughed,

_**HAHAHAHA! YOU WISH.** _

He turned back and looked at him, his eyes piercing through those sunglasses. "Shut up." He thought.

 _ **Or what?** _ The man said. **_You're going to kill me?_**

Light continued walking and continued to ignore him. At one point, he just lost his sanity, and yelled, "Shut up. I don't care if you think you can control me, but you can't! I have an independent life, and I don't need you anymore!" Thank God that he was now in an empty alley, with nothing but a small cat searching for food for company.

_**You used to call me by name…I bet you've forgotten my name.** _

"How could I…" Light said.

_**Say it.** _

"I want you to get out of my life…" Light said, taking a gentle dramatic pause.

_**SAY IT!** _

"Ryuk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter. Wow me.


	4. Pieces Form Whole

It was nine o clock, and it was Saturday. Light was hoping that L would have at least tidied his place up for a proper, professional meeting. All his hopes were shattered once he heard "noises" from inside the caravan.

Of course. Porn. What else was he expecting?

"Good morning."

"Ah, Light, come in. Want some cake?"

Light waved his hand, and sat on the other end of the couch, opposite to where L was sitting, his legs bent, almost kissing his knees. His eyes bore deep into the screen of the TV, as though there was something meaningful taking place. Light couldn't help but yelp when he saw the screen by mistake.

"What, you've never watched porn?" L asked with a synthetic and a neutral voice.

Light looked away. "Not with someone else, that's for sure."

L sighed and turned it off. "This is as close as romance could get to real life. Dying cancer people sounds really romantic and lovely, but it doesn't happen in real life."

Light raised an eyebrow. "Have you even watched Fault In Our Stars?"

"Hmmm," L thought, unwrapping yet another jelly cover. "No. I read the blurb, was bored out of my wits and didn't bother to watch it."

Light sighed, almost giving up on this man. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. "You said we would go over my screenplay."

"That's right," L muttered, as he stood up. He wiped his hands with a tissue paper, and threw it someplace that wasn't a bin. He went over, picked up the thick set of sheets that was filed together. At the same time, he also picked up a red pencil, and a green one. Light wasn't sure what was going on.

"I read your script," L began, as he resumed his usual pose on the couch, but with the file on his knees now. "It was a bit interesting, but it was not dramatic enough to be portrayed on screen."

"Oh."

"Don't be so discouraged. You aren't a director, you're a writer. There's a small difference between books and movies. In books, the reader's imagination is powerful and so people could construct streets and worlds so unique, so matter-of-fact-edly that they don't even realize the beauty of their own construction. Because what matters there is the plot, the characters and that's it. However we're in the business of visual arts, meaning we have to spoon feed to them. It's a pretty apt phrase too, spoon feed - because that's what our audiences are. Babies. Once they hate it, they'll spit it out. They don't stop there either. They go around telling everyone how the baby food sucks. Either you build low expectations and give them a mediocre movie that will perform well, or you make high expectations and exceed it," L looked at him intently, making Light slightly uncomfortable. "So that we could become legends."

Light gulped. He hadn't thought of any such events when he was writing it.

"It's clear that you haven't thought of any of this while you were writing. I'm forgiving you because it's your first time." L added.

Light nodded nervously, awaiting the next steps of them movie.

"So, I'm going to tell you how to improve it. Are you ready?"

"I am."

"Good. Because you might have to wait for a while before I actually begin. There are some other stuff I wanted to talk to you about."

"Here goes," Light thought, rolling his eyes.

L shot him a look, catching Light mid-roll. "Careful. I'm not going to tolerate insubordination."

"Why would you say that?"

"Just saying."

* * *

There was a knock at the door. "I'm coming!" Sayu yelled from inside. The knocking didn't stop. "Oh, wait a minute, goddamn it!"

She opened the door, and said, "Hi."

The woman outside the door smiled and said, "Hello. You must be Sayu. I'm…" she stopped herself midway, realizing the threat to her presence. "…Light's friend."

"Oh," Sayu said with a dash of hurt. "Come in, come in. I apologize for my temper. I hate these repeated knocks."

"I'm so sorry. I do things like that when I'm nervous." Misa said as she removed her footwear. "Do you have any idea when your brother might return?"

"No clue. You look really familiar, you know." Sayu said.

After the door closed, she pulled off her sunglasses and scarf, and Sayu slowly gaped her mouth as she saw who was standing next to her.

"Can we start over?" Sayu said, embarrassed.

"Sure. Amane Misa."

"Sayu Yagami. How do you know my brother?"

"Rehab."

Sayu immediately fell quiet. She walked into the living room, with her face evidently drooped. "Oh," she said, although a while later.

Misa smiled and sat next to her, putting her arm around her. "That's alright. Let's just move on. So, tell me more about yourself."

Sayu smiled back, and Misa returned it with a more pleasant smile.

* * *

A few months after the re-scripting for screen was over, L suggested to Light that he take a break from the movie. Light accepted after much though, and only after L promised to not touch the script any further.

It's not that Light didn't like the changed script. It was certainly more dramatic, more mystical and more beautiful. But the more he spent time with L, the less he started seeing his image in the screenplay. Of course, if he were to be given the Oscar, it would be given only to him, but he didn't find it calming that he had very little contribution to the dialogues, and the flow of the story and whatnot. He was able to subjectively appreciate the new script, but was unable to accept it emotionally. So, when L said that he was going back to England for a two months – something like a vacation – Light was wondering what he would do for those two months.

He wasn't doing much on the first night after he said good bye to L over the phone minutes before he boarded the plane. He was in the bar, drinking, trying to not summon Ryuk out of thin air.

"Hey," a girl came and sat next to him. She looked cute. She had brown hair and black eyes, and was wearing a shirt and a skirt. "Is something wrong?"

Light raised an eyebrow. Did he really look that approachable? His eyes rolled to the clock. It was two. Two AM. Jesus.

"How long have you been looking at me?" he asked her, clearly drunk.

"Ever since you walked in." she replied quickly.

"Let me rephrase. How long have you been here?"

"About an hour before you entered."

"Right," Light muttered as he took another sip of his scotch.

"So, is anything wrong?" she got back to the first question.

"Nothing…specifically speaking, I mean," Light rotated his chair towards her. "I mean, when do you realize that you actually don't…exist?"

The girl laughed, looking away. "Someone stole your work?"

"Not specifically speaking."

"But he slash she made it better?"

Light slapped his thigh laughing. "Can you read minds?"

"Yep," she replied. "I can also control things telepathically," proceeding to stretch and skew her fingers, her facial features distorting, trying to hopelessly try and move a salt shaker.

After a while, she admitted, "Okay, I'm a little too drunk to move anything now."

Light smiled, and mumbled. All of sudden, he didn't really feel like himself. He felt like he had never had this much fun since...since rehab.

"Light," he stretched out his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehh, I didn't enjoy writing this chapter much, because I want to get to the main story line as soon as possible. That is, the idea I had in my mind when I started out with L being a different director.


	5. The Gentle Hum Of Anxiety

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So the boards got over, and this is like the millionth time I have rewritten this chapter. I never really knew what I was going to do with this chapter, because I was too farsighted. But then here we are, and I'm back!

L found himself in the middle of a set. A set of a movie that he had previously worked on.

The cameras, the lights, the crew, they were all there. It was crowded, yet he felt alone.

But something felt off. Something was wrong. It was slightly too bright. It gave him a sense of surrealism.

His lead actress for that movie walked into the set. The set was fairly unremarkable. It was a bedroom in a red-black colour palette. She looked at L in the eye, and smiled almost maniacally. That was probably when L realized something was really wrong. She had never smiled to him. Never.

"Do you remember what I told you?" L said, although he didn't feel like he had any control over his speech. He just spoke.

She looked at him in the eye. She had blonde hair, blue eyes that were slightly swollen – almost like she had cried all night – and red lipstick that was so thick it almost distracted everything else.

"You said," she said, on the verge of breaking into tears, "You asked for realism."

"I did, and you need to be prepared to do it," L said, leaning back on his chair. "Now, is everyone ready? Yes? Okay. Crew! Lights! Camera!" and he shot one last look at her, "ACTION!"

Everyone froze. Nobody moved. The lights were getting annoyingly brighter.

"You wanted realism?" she said, as she slowly approached L, removing her shirt her eyes not wavering from the insanity that was building within. L expected this. L wanted this. But he was confused. The camera is over there. Why was she approaching him?

She slowly pulled the zipper in her shirt down, revealing her topless body. "You wanted realism?" She slowly dropped the shirt off, revealing her breasts, and pulled out a dagger from her pant pocket.

A dagger? "But she gets stabbed only in the fiftieth scene," L thought.

She started crying, her tears flowing from her sunken dark eyes, across her cheek, and pulled the dagger right between her breasts and placed it on her sternum. "You…wanted…realism…?"

"WAIT! STOP!" L yelled, but it didn't come out. He remained dumb. Like he was losing control of what was going on. The light grew brighter and brighter.

She pressed the tip of the blade against her chest and a small drop of blood slowly trickled out. She shivered. But she didn't stop. She continued pressing it against her, and the blade slowly dug deep, until the small drop became a small stream, flowing down her body, staining her pants. She yelps quietly, sending a shiver all over her body.

"ALLIE! STOP!" L didn't hear his voice himself.

She dragged the blade vertically downward, but failed as the blade started moving sidewards, towards her liver, the blood gushing out, spurting everywhere.

"YOU WANTED REALISM?!" she yelled out one more time. "I'M GIVING YOU YOUR REALISM!"

The sight was too nauseating. Allie flung the knife away, her palms covered with blood, her torso drowned in blood, her waistline stained with blood, and her breasts swaying and glistening in the red blood. L couldn't move. He was a statue. The terror in him was building, but he couldn't simply move. She fell on all fours, crawling towards him, making a large red streak on the floor as she got close to him. She stood up next to L, looking at his eyes, drilling her sight into his brains. "I'm giving you realism," she smiles and falls on him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!" L woke up in cold sweat.

He was alone, in his room, lying on the bed, looking up at the slowly rotating fan, in a hotel room.

His vacation wasn't going ahead as planned. He got up, and looked outside the window. London Eye. He was in London.

He slowly walked towards the washroom, washed his face again and again. He looked into the mirror and saw bloody, naked Allie in his reflection.

Allison Montgomery. The girl who almost died of humiliation during the process of shooting one of his finest movies. She had to strip naked not once, not twice, but eleven times in the movie. It got her an Oscar nomination. She was also shrouded with pimps trying to hire her for prostitution. And to this date, she blames only L.

L. L for Lawliet. L for Legendary. L for Loathsome.

L, the greatest director in the world, was the sole cause for the attempted suicide of Allie. He didn't care. He didn't even turn up for her hearing. He just paid a fine of 7000 pounds and walked away as if nothing happened. To him, she was another piece in his chessboard. Everything has to be in his control. Perfection was more important than anything else.

For a moment, L looked at his reflection, contemplating the monster that he was. He tried to fill a list of all the women who almost died making his movies, all the men who got divorced solely because of L's obsession with realism. He was inching towards making a snuff movie.

"A small price to pay," he always says to convince them. They all got nominated for the Oscars. All won the BAFTAs. A few actually won the Oscars. Two people ended up in the In Memoriam section of the Oscars.

He looked back into the basin, gargling his throat with the water and spitting it out. "I'm sorry," he whispered, hoping that everyone he let down, everyone he hurt would hear. He knew that nobody heard it. But there was hope that they did.

Light Yagami. Promising young man. Set for the same destination that L was so focused on achieving. L was sure of it. This journey that he will undertake in completing this movie will corrupt him, ruin him, destroy him, and make him forget everything that he was before starting with this movie.

L chuckled. He couldn't even remember anything before Matsuki lodged a sexual harassment suit against him. He lost his soul.

His phone buzzed. "Yes?"

"I heard you were in town. I thought I should give you a call."

L sighed, and walked back into the bedroom. "Who told you?"

"Quillish did."

"Did he tell you why I came here?"

"Not really, no."

"Alright, I'm going to be there in a couple of minutes. Make sure you get all the promising graduates this year. Tell them nothing, I repeat, nothing. Do you understand Roger?"

"I do."

"Good. I'll be there this evening."

"Very well."

L threw the phone on the bed. He put his hands in his pockets and climbed onto the couch, and turned the large flat screen TV on. They had a movie running. Tarantino. Good. He could enjoy a good violent movie before leaving for the Wammy House of film making.

Evening

"Good evening. My name is L Lawliet, but you can call me L. First of all, let me congratulate you on successfully graduating the Wammy School of film making. This school is the finest film school in the whole of Europe, and you should pat yourselves in the shoulder that you have made it this far. We' will never forget A, my disciple who committed suicide last year, because…"

L trailed off. He knew exactly why A killed himself. Nobody else does.

"…because of his dabbling in the life of a romantic. It teaches us to never get distracted. Never to waver away from your true aim. I'm here to help you all get yourself that aim. I'm here to select a team that will participate as my crew for my next movie. This is how.

"You will all segregate yourselves into teams of any number. By the end of this month, you will submit a short film no longer than 20 minutes. You will need a director, editor, music director all the bells and whistles. All those who don't want to be a part of it, need not do anything at all. All those who want to participate however must submit a chit to Roger here, along with the names of all the members of your team. I will be the sole judge of those short films, and I will choose the winning team who will travel with me to Japan to shoot my next movie. Is that understood? Any questions?"

There was only silence.

"Alright then, get to work."

L looked at the eager students as they all left. He eyed closely a small group that he was almost certain was going to win. He looked at Roger, and Roger immediately came towards him.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Roger asked.

"It doesn't matter. I need to know if they are capable. I need to know if they are perfectionists. That's all. There's no room for chit chat, happy fun times and all that."

"But they are kids!" Roger protested, the caretaker in him revolted against this cold hearted human. "They can't stand such pressure! Remember what happened to A?"

"A was an idiot. A was a man who didn't know his limits. He idolized me. It was his fault in doing so."

Roger gave up. "Just hope nobody kills themselves this time."

"This time," L sighed, rubbing his toes using his other toes. "No one will."

Roger could only return that sigh, and watch out for those weak children.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually have another chapter at ready here - but I don't have the patience to proofread it now. So, you might have to suffer with this small chapter here.
> 
> Please review!


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